Casino Grand (II)
James walked casually towards the edge of the casino floor bordering the table games, occasionally glancing at other tables with a bored expression on his face.
There, just as he had expected, James found a luxuriously furnished alcove with a sign that said "High Limit" above.
As he entered through the alcove, a carpeted corridor opened up into a glitzy large room filled with crystal chandeliers and immaculately dressed dealers standing behind spaced out gaming tables. Unlike the main casino floor, space was not at a premium here.
The center of the room held a tall marble fountain with carved faces of mermaids and dragons, with water gurgling happily out of their mouths.
Before James could walk into the room proper, an attendant stood up from the counter next to the entrance and greeted him.
"Good evening Sir. May I help you?"
"Hi! Yes, it's my first time at Casino Grand, and I was looking for a slightly quieter place to play." James said.
"Then it is my honor to welcome you sir. May I presume that you don't have a host with us?"
"No, I don't. I usually play at the Wynn." James said, gratefully remembering the name of the casino who issued the six chips he carried in his pocket.
"Excellent sir. May I inquire if you already have a credit line or front money with us or if you would like us to set up something you may draw markers against?"
"Ah, that won't be necessary. No serious gambling for me. I just brought a little fun money with me." James said casually, as he took out and displayed the six flags that represented all of his resources.
"Could I trouble you to place those on the counter please? It would please us to be able to exchange those for you." The attendant asked.
"Of course." James said nonchalantly, as he tossed the chips onto the counter.
The attendant took out a small ultraviolet light bar and scanned the top of the chips before turning them over and scanning the bottom. Then, she moved them carefully over a slightly raised section of the counter, before looking at a hidden screen and noting a few numbers down. Finally, she picked up the phone and recited six different numbers out, before pausing briefly to hear the reply.
James, who was carefully paying attention to her actions, feigned boredom for the cameras and glanced towards the room.
"Many apologies for the trouble sir, and thank you for your patronage at the Grand today. I am pleased to inform you that we will be more than happy to exchange these six Wynn chips for our chips for your use today. Will the same denomination be acceptable?"
"Of course." James said.
"Thank you sir. At the end of your play, you may cash them back in here."
"That's good to know. Thank you." James said.
As he prepared to leave, the attendant interrupted one final time.
"Sir, I hope you don't mind, I've taken the liberty to invite our Vice President of Casino Marketing to meet you at your table later in case you have any questions."
"That's nice. Unnecessary, but nice. I'm not doing any serious gambling today, so I hope I won't disappoint him." James said.
"Not at all sir. We're pleased to be of service, and hope that you will come back to visit us again."
James took the short walk down the corridor, musing at the difference in treatment between the casino floor and the high limit room. Outside, you had to queue at the casino cage in order to exchange your chips, and if a Vice President came to meet you, it was probably not a good thing. Here, the perks and respect that you received stood in sharp contrast.
James looked over at the tables. There were two main gambling denominations. Hundred dollar minimums to five thousand maximums, and five hundred dollar minimums to twenty five thousand maximums.
The games on offer were also more limited. Other than the standard blackjack tables, there were several shorter tables offering baccarat, two roulette wheels, and a craps table. None of the carnival or gimmicky games on offer to the hoi polloi were qualified for the serious gamblers.
James gave the blackjack tables a cursory glance, and made a beeline to the roulette wheel. Blackjack players were subject to greater scrutiny, and since he needed to camouflage himself, he would avoid those tables like the plague.
"Hello sir. Do you have a player's card with us?" The roulette dealer asked.
"Yes I do." James said, as he placed a flag and the blue card in front of him.
"Changing five thousand." The dealer announced.
The pit boss walked over and gave the card and chip a quick glance, before nodding.
"Would you like dollars sir?" The dealer asked.
"Yes please. Something light to start." James said.
The dealer expertly cut out two stacks of twenty black chips, and a half stack of ten black chips in front of herself, before sliding them over to James.
Once the chips had made their way over to James, the pit boss came over and respectfully handed the blue card back.
"Welcome Mr. S. My name is George. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. For starters, would you like something to drink?"
"Scotch, if it's convenient." James said.
Drinking alcohol would be part of his cover. Only casual gamblers drank. The professionals stuck to water and soda, for fear of making a mistake while intoxicated.
"Of course Mr S. I am pleased to be able to offer you your choice between the Yamazaki 25 and the Glenfiddich 30."
"The Yamazaki, thank you." James said.
The pit boss went back to his station and picked up the phone to place the order, before coming back to stand behind the dealer and observe James' betting.
James picked up five of his black chips and put them on numbers randomly, before standing up next to and peering intently at the roulette wheel.
[ Should System influence the ball? ]
No need, James thought to himself internally. We're just here to have fun today.
[ Suit yourself. ]
The dealer picked up a small white ball and gave it an expert spin around the roulette wheel. As the ball started to slow down, she waved a hand over the table and announced, "No more bets."
As James watched, the ball slid slowly from the groove it was spinning in and came into contact with the numbered compartments below. A couple of bounces, and it settled in a green pocket.
"Zero." The dealer announced, before sweeping away all five of James' black chips.
---
James repeated his bets a few times, winning on one occasion and receiving a stack of thirty-five chips, and losing five more times, for a net gain of five hundred dollars.
Just as he placed his eighth wager onto the table, a smartly dressed man walked up and introduced himself.
"Good evening Mr S. My name is Richard and I'm the Vice President of Casino Marketing for the Grand."
"Hey, how's it going?" James asked casually.
"Good sir. I understand this is your first time with us today?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Are you staying with us tonight?"
"No, I was in the area and was bored, so I decided to stop by for a couple of hours." James said.
"Of course Mr S. This is my card, if you change your mind, please let myself or any of our pit supervisors know, and we would be pleased to extend our hospitality."
"Thank you for your courtesy." James said.
"One more thing sir. On behalf of our establishment, I'm pleased to inform you that we will upgrade your player's card to the Platinum status, which, as I'm sure you're familiar with, will allow you to avoid some inconveniences should you choose to patronize some of our facilities. As always, please let us know if we can be of any assistance."
"Yes, thank you." James said once more, before accepting the presented card and turning back to the table.
As he saw the Vice President nod to the Pit Boss and walk away, James smiled to himself.
Part two of his plan was now complete.
As far as the Casino Grand was concerned, he was a sheep there for the shearing. Little did they know that, under all of that delicious looking wool and blubber, lay a hungry vengeful wolf.
---
Shortly after the host had left, James saw Phil and the rest of the gang come in and play at the blackjack tables.
Thankfully, they had not acknowledged him or made eye contact, instead choosing to laugh boisterously at their own jokes while sipping water and making varied bets.
The phone had rung shortly after, and once the pit boss hung up, he had gone over to the blackjack table to whisper a few discreet instructions to the dealer.
From his perch at the nearby baccarat table, James noticed that the dealer started to shuffle the deck earlier, leaving a large portion of the cards undealt.
This was a common preventative measure used against card counters, preventing them from maximizing the expected value of their count, and not-so-gently shifting the odds back towards the casino.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, with James shuttling between both roulette and baccarat, and Phil and gang looking more and more frustrated as they hopped between blackjack tables.